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CIENA UNVEILS NEW ADDITION TO CNX FAMILY OF BROADBAND ACCESS SOLUTIONS

CNX-100 Modular Broadband Loop Carrier Designed to Broadband-Enable Approximately 30 Million Access Lines

Ciena® Corporation (Nasdaq: CIEN) today announced the introduction of the CNX-100 Modular Broadband Loop Carrier (BLC) in response to increasing service provider demand to deliver broadband services to subscribers served from legacy Digital Loop Carrier (DLC) systems. The CNX-100 is designed to help service providers capitalize on immediate revenue opportunities by facilitating rapid expansion of their DSL footprint with the addition of broadband capabilities to the installed base of popular legacy DLC systems, such as the Lucent SLC-96, Fujitsu FDLC and FACTR, Nortel DMS-1 Urban and Marconi DISC*S.

The addition of the CNX-100 is another step in Ciena’s strategic evolution to a leading provider of intelligent service creation and delivery solutions for residential and enterprise services from Core to Door™. Ciena will display and show live demos of the CNX-100 and CNX-5 solutions in booth #24815 at SUPERCOMM in Chicago, June 22-24, 2004.

The newest product in Ciena’s family of broadband access solutions, gained through the acquisition of Catena Networks, the CNX-100 provides 96 configurable subscriber ports in a single low-profile shelf, providing a DSL overlay solution or an integrated POTS+DSL solution. The CNX-100 gives carriers a fast, cost-effective and scalable way to provide revenue-generating DSL services to the more than 30 million residential subscribers served by these various remote terminals.

“The CNX-100 offers a quick solution for carriers to increase their addressable DSL footprint and capitalize on the increasing demand for broadband,” said Matt Davis, director of broadband access at Yankee Group. “There is a significant trend emerging that will see carriers push electronics closer to the end-user in order to shorten loop lengths and provide greater bandwidth.  Due to its small size and capability to evolve into a full service BLC, this solution offers carriers more options when deploying DSL today, and cost-effectively positions them to evolve toward a suite of broadband services in the future.”

A Cost-Effective and Proven Solution for Carriers
Providing DSL from legacy Remote Terminal (RT) cabinets usually requires significant and expensive site modifications, such as pouring new pads and adding adjunct DSLAM equipment and cabinets. The CNX-100 eliminates these costly site modifications by providing a low-profile shelf that is deployed directly inside the existing cabinet.

With its modular design and pay-as-you-go approach, the CNX-100 can grow in 4-port increments, and service cards can be provisioned based on the service requirements at each site. A variety of copper and fiber network interfaces support connection to any transport network, and the CNX-100 supports multiple subtending nodes for greater scale and transport efficiency. 

“Our success with the flagship CNX-5 Broadband DSL System in major service provider networks has helped us extend a valuable competitive lead into a commanding market position, which we intend to leverage with the CNX-100,” said Jim Hjartarson, senior vice president and general manager of Ciena’s Broadband Access Group. “Compatible with currently deployed CNX-5 systems, the CNX-100 provides a solution to the lingering issue of inefficient broadband scalability for legacy access networks and provides carriers with immediate access to new revenue streams.”

The CNX-100 is based on Ciena’s patented, standards-compliant, silicon technology already deployed in thousands of DSL systems, and the modular architecture provides carriers with a pragmatic solution to deal with network and service evolution. The CNX-100 can start as a small DSLAM to provide high-speed Internet access, and then be selectively upgraded to provide voice services and additional POTS capacity, through the deployment of integrated POTS+DSL cards. Further evolution of the platform to a full-featured BLC will provide support for advanced service capabilities such as switched digital video and packet voice, enabling carriers to further leverage their network investments.

Integration of the CNX-100 into service provider networks is simplified since it is managed by the same proven CatenaView EMS (Element Management System) as Ciena’s widely deployed CNX-5 Broadband DSL System. To the CatenaView EMS, the CNX-100 is simply another network element within its management domain. Operations Support Systems (OSS) integration requires minimal additional effort due to the high degree of commonality with the CNX-5. TL1 and CORBA gateways allow for easy back office integration with higher layer management systems.

Ciena’s CNX-100 is expected to be generally available in the third calendar quarter of 2004.
 
The CNX Portfolio
Ciena’s CNX-100 adds another critical element to the company’s expanding portfolio of broadband DSL solutions, which also includes the CNX-5. The CNX-5 is a simple, elegant and inexpensive system to DSL-enable the Lucent SLCÒ Series 5 DLC. To date, the company has sold more than 6,000 CNX systems, and they are deployed in all four Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) networks.

According to market research firm IDC, the number of broadband links worldwide will more than triple between 2002 and 2007 (from 58 million to 208 million) and experts predict that most of this growth will occur within suburban areas, which offer a lucrative opportunity for service providers. A majority of these links are expected to be built off of the existing copper loop infrastructure – a ripe market for solutions like the CNX-100.